3. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
This music video has no camera Camera Work
work, as it is all animated.
Gorillaz always animate their
music videos and most of their
live shows are projections of the
characters performing live.
This is an interesting shot as it is as if a
camera was attached to the end of the
guitar. It shows the gorilla playing the
instrument and he also has a woman
gorilla next to him. This shows that there
is a world of characters created in this
Gorillaz video and that this character
clearly attracts women. This idea of a
womanising character is continued in all
of the Gorillaz music videos, leading to a
long story being told of the band
members. By having this shot near the
beginning it shows the intent of this
The video starts with a series of close up shots of the Gorillaz playing instruments. This is used to show that real people aren’t
playing the instruments and to give a clear view of the animation. From the outset it is clear that this video is animated and the
close ups reinforce this idea. Also close ups were used to show off how good the animation is and to involve the audience.
character.
A rap group called De La Soul collaborate in
this song, and appear on a TV in the
background, but the animated Gorilla is
there dancing. This is a mixture of
animation and real life. The shot is a
medium shot and gets both people in. The
TV behind is computer generated but the
video of De La Soul is a real camera used
clip.
This shot is a surrealist island in
the sky. It is animated and is a
reason for the video being
animated and cartoon. It brings
the production cost down and
also would be very difficult to
shoot with a camera.
4. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
Editing
The majority of the video is straight cuts, however
there are a few fade to black shots and a few fade
across each other shots. This shot below is a shot
where two separate clips overlap and create this
effect. Then the first clip fades out to leave the
second clip on its own as normal. It looks smooth
and works well in this video.
Some shots cut to beat and are edited on
straight cuts to the beat of the music.
This is common in fast pace music and
gives an exciting tone to the video.
As the video is animated,
the editing and shots
must appear as if the
animation was real and
being filmed., even
though the image are
being created on a
computer. This gives an
effect of a camera
presence.
In this shot, as the feet slam
on the floor the screen
shakes. This is done in the
post-production in the
editing and gives the effect
that the floor was hit very
hard.
In the slow parts of
the song, the clips
are edited together
with fades. This gives
a smooth effect and
is not jumpy.
Therefore the visuals
connect with the
music and the
editing reflects the
sounds of the beat.
This happens on the
chorus’.
5. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
Genre Conventions
• As part of this is a rap song, the rap parts involve the rapper performing to
the camera at a low angle shot. This is common in rap and the low angle
shot is intimidating and makes the audience feel like they have less power
compared to the rapper.
• The rest of the song is alternative rock music, and even though the video
is animated, you see the ‘band’ playing the instruments and ‘performing
live’. This converts to the normal rock video conventions.
• Also, the bass playing Gorilla is moody and mysterious and he seems to
have a lot of female attention in the video, like a normal rock star.
6. Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.
Intertextual References
• De La Soul, a rap group, perform the second verse
and outro in the song. They have a rap verse and
repeat a hook and laugh in the outro. They appear
on a screen in the video and perform their parts to a
camera. This is an example of collaboration and the
only intertextual reference in the video.
7. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc
Lyric and Visual Links
• The lyrics are illustrative. When the you can hear someone singing 'windmill,
windmill‘, a windmill is pictured in shot.
• The visuals illustrate the music, for example, when a drum is heard, a gorilla is
seen hitting a drum.
• This happens multiple times in the video, and is classic technique in all music
videos.
• The bottom right image is the main Gorilla singing the lyrics through a megaphone,
and the audio of the lyrics sound as if they are coming through a megaphone. This
was done in the post production and an effect was put on the vocal part to make it
sound distorted. The megaphone in the video backs up the suggestion of the
audio. It could suggest that he is trapped or wants to be heard by a lot of people
so he is singing through the megaphone.
9. Bombay Bicycle Club – Luna
Camera Work
A theme in this video is symmetry
and synchronisation. This is because
the video is about synchronized
swimmers and the camera work has
to reflect that.
Some shots are taken underwater, which would have
needed assistance from aquatic cameras. This gives off
an interesting shot type of underwater.
The video also uses multiple tracking shots.
This makes the video smooth and interesting
to watch. The tracking shot is a theme in this
video as they need to follow the swimming.
It’s a good example of a camera technique as
it is repeated through the video and brings a
level of consistency to the video.
The camera shots are usually mid shots, as
they don’t need to represent power. This is
because dancers are equal. Also, most of the
shots have everyone in, and they will form
together to create a big pattern. The camera
will always get this in shot.
10. Bombay Bicycle Club – Luna
Editing
As the swimmers are ‘dancing’ in time
with the music, the shots also are cut to
the beat of the song. This is a good
technique to use for dancing scenes, and
the swimming represents dancing.
Bombay Bicycle Club have put the video
together without using titles added in post
production. They have put all the titles on the
wall in the swimming pool. They put the word
‘Luna’ on the floor of the pool and ‘Bombay
Bicycle Club’ on the wall, as if it was imprinted
on the tiles. This gives the effect of a more
authentic video and is an interesting way of
displaying titles rather than adding it in the
post-production.
The video is edited together using straight cuts. This is
jumpy but the shots are all similar so it works well
together. The colours are always similar making the
video seem smooth. Not many other editing
techniques are used in the video, because the band
want the focus to be on the music and the swimming.
This part of the video is in slow motion. This
relates to the music as the tempo slows down
at this point. This was edited in the post-production
and an effect was put on the clip
in order to slow down the clip.
11. Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna
Mise En Scene + Genre Conventions
Mise En Scene:
• Little boy and mum
• Singular swimmer
• Towel
• Swimming costumes
Genre Conventions:
In indie/alternative music, you will usually see shots of
the band performing the song live, or at least shots of
the band members acting. However, this video is
different because there are no shots of the band and it
is all of the synchronised swimmers. This is unusual and
it subverts the genre conventions of a usual indie video.
One of the reasons for this video being so different is to
create interest and debate. This will make more people want
to watch it. Another reason could be that the band want
people to enjoy the music for the music, and not jus because
they think the band are visually appealing.
12. Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna
The Gaze and Voyeurism
This video is odd because even
though the women are in
swimsuits and revealing clothing,
there is no focus on the sexuality
or objectification of women's
bodies. There are no seductive
poses and there are close ups on
the curves of the swimmers. This
is another way that this band have
subverted conventions in this
video and show how they want
women to be appreciated for
their talent and not their figures.
The only close up of the
swimmers is their faces at the
beginning and they are all smiling.
This could show their personality
rather than their bodies. This
subverts genre conventions as
their faces would usually be
seductive and not cheesy smiles.
The way that the video doesn’t
treat them like objects is
unconventional. This is the only
close thing to voyeurism but isn’t
true voyeurism because the
women are looking at the camera.
A shot like this of the
women's legs is
provocative, but I don't
think it was indented to
be used in a sexual way.
All the women are doing
this as a swimming
technique and their legs
are crossed which
represents women trying
to be classy and not
provocative. This shot is
used to show the talent of
the women.
13. Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna
Andrew Goodwin
I don’t think that there are
any intertextual
references in the video. It
is an original idea for a
video, mainly because of
the lack of shots of the
band.
The relationship between the lyrics and
visuals is non-existent, as the song is about
a girl. The only lyric that remotely relates to
the song is “I will bathe myself”, as they are
in a swimming pool. It is odd that the lyrics
don’t match with the video at all.
This is called disjuncture, where the
meaning of the song is completely ignored
in the music video.
The swimmers swim in relation to
the beat in the video. This is done
to link the video and the audio. In
a part where the snare drum is hit
repeatedly, the swimmers hit their
legs on the water and create a
large splash in unison.
15. Bring Me The Horizon – Shadow Moses
Camera Work
• This video is very interesting because the whole video is using a camera
effect. There are two cameras, one on the left and one on the right.
Throughout the whole video, the clips switch very quickly and all the time.
This makes the whole video look 3D. It is a very interesting idea for the
video and looks very good.
• There are wide shots of the band, close ups of the members and their
instruments and wide shots of locations and a girl. There are also shots of
the sea and the landscape. The majority of the shots of the band is wide
shots or close ups. This is good for knowing where they are and seeing
more detail.
16. Bring Me The Horizon – Shadow Moses
Editing
• There are slow motion shots on the flare drums scenes. Also on the girl
walking away shot. This is emotive and makes the video feel sad as
everything has more detail and you can see everything slowly.
• The editing is used effectively as they need to swap between the left and
right camera in the post-production. This gives off a 3D effect without
using traditional 3D methods.
• A lot of the shots are edited together using straight cuts. This is
appropriate in this song as it is a metal song and is fast paced.
17. Bring Me The Horizon – Shadow Moses
Mise En Scene + Genre Conventions
• Lots of flares are in this music video. Flares are interesting and look
visually appealing in music videos.
• There are also sea gulls flying, instruments, amplifiers, and the band
members. There is a girl walking away and a beach.
• There are multiple conventions of metal music, such as the band
performing live, emotional and shouting lead singers, tattoos, piercings
and screaming.
• This is a classic metal music video, apart from the 3D effect which is
extremely clever and gives this video something different about it. It is an
example of a generic rock/metal video.
18. Bring Me The Horizon – Shadow Moses
Voyeurism and The Gaze
• There is not much voyeurism in this video at al. There is only one woman,
who is fully clothed as it is in a cold location. She is walking away and not
looking at the camera, which could show an element of voyeurism as she
does not know the audience is looking at her.
• There is no elements of the gaze either, as the band are all boys and there
are no close ups of the woman. This subverts with Laura Mulvey’s theory.
This could be because of the genre.
19. Bring Me The Horizon – Shadow Moses
The Star Theory
• Oli Sykes is the lead singer and front man of Bring Me The Horizon. He has
the same persona and personality in all of his music videos, and is a
character created by the label. There are a lot of shots of him in the video,
as Andrew Goodwin suggested in his Star Theory.
• He has many tattoos and acts emotional and angry in the majority of his
videos. He acts the lyrics of this video which are sad and emotional. This
also conforms to the theory that band members will act the story of their
videos.
